The present invention relates to a protective glove and, more particularly, to a protective sports glove having a wrist guard that provides enhanced flexibility and promotes ergonomic movement.
In many contact sports, such as lacrosse or hockey, sticks are elements of the game. A player's hands, wrists, and lower arms are especially vulnerable to injury when being checked by another player's stick. For this reason, players typically wear padded gloves to protect their hands, wrists and lower arms during play.
Typical gloves for such contact sports generally include a hand portion joined with finger portions and a thumb portion. The hand portion, finger portions, and thumb portion each have a respective palm portion and a dorsal portion which is usually covered with multiple protective pads. The protective pads typically protect the dorsal side of the hand from forceful impacts. The gloves also can include a protective cuff that is elastically joined with a lower edge of the hand portion. This usually extends up the wearer's wrist and forearm. The protective pads that protect the dorsal side of the hand usually are formed in such a way so as to allow the wearer to grasp a game stick, yet still provide protection against impact.
Protective sports gloves also can include an additional protective element that is intended to further protect the wrist from impacting blows administered directly to the wrist. These pads, called wrist guards or wrist cuffs, are loosely strapped between the hand portion and the cuff portion. In use, a wearer usually flexes their wrist, which can separate the hand and cuff portions. The wrist guard covers a gap between these portions, protecting the wrist of the wearer.
Many wrist guards are substantially rectangular in configuration and sharply sweep across the back, or dorsal side of the hand from left to right. While this rectangular configuration thoroughly covers the vulnerable gap over a wearer's wrist, it can substantially impair movement and flexibility of the wrist, particularly movements required to manipulate a stick in the game of lacrosse and hockey. Other conventional gloves include non-rectangular wrist guards that facilitate some flexibility, but still may encumber some wrist movement. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,983,396 to Morrow discloses an adjustably positionable wrist guard having a rounded forearm facing portion and a centrally located bulge on the finger facing, forward side of the guard. While the forward facing bulge can add protection, in some cases, it can also impair extension of the wrist.